Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 2027
“I went by the field of the slothful and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding. And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof and the stone wall thereof was broken down. Then I saw and considered it well: I looked upon it and received instruction.” Proverbs 24:30-32.
NO DOUBT Solomon was sometimes glad to lay aside the robes of State, escape from the forms of court and go through the country unknown. On one occasion, when he was doing so, he looked over the broken wall of a little estate which belonged to a farmer of his country. This estate consisted of a piece of plowed land and a vineyard. One glance showed him that it was owned by a sluggard who neglected it, for the weeds had grown right plentifully and covered all the face of the ground. From this Solomon gathered instruction.
Men generally learn wisdom if they have wisdom. The artist’s eye sees the beauty of the landscape because he has beauty in his mind. “To him that has shall be given” and he shall have abundance, for he shall reap a harvest even from a field that is covered with thorns and nettles. There is a great difference between one man and another in the use of the mind’s eye. I have a book entitled, “The Harvest of a Quiet Eye,” and a good book it is—the harvest of a quiet eye can be gathered from a sluggard’s land as well as from a well-managed farm. When we were boys we were taught a little poem, called “Eyes and no Eyes.” There was much truth in it for some people have eyes and see not, which is much the same as having no eyes—while others have quick eyes for spying out instruction.
Some look only at the surface, while others see not only the outside shell but the living kernel of truth which is hidden in all outward things. We may find instruction everywhere. To a spiritual mind nettles have their use and weeds have their doctrine. Are not all thorns and thistles meant to be teachers to sinful men? Are they not brought forth of the earth on purpose that they may show us what sin has done and the kind of produce that will come when we sow the seed of rebellion against God?
“I went by the field of the slothful and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding,” says Solomon. “I saw and considered it well: I looked upon it and received instruction.” Whatever you see, take care to consider it well and you will not see it in vain. You shall find books and sermons everywhere—in the land and in the sea, in the earth and in the skies—and you shall learn from every living beast and bird and fish and insect and from every useful or useless plant that springs out of the ground. We may also gather rare lessons from things that we do not like. I am sure that Solomon did not in the least degree admire the thorns and the nettles that covered the face of the vineyard. But he nevertheless found instruction in them.
Many are stung by nettles but few are taught by them. Some men are hurt by briars but here is one who was improved by them. Wisdom has a way of gathering grapes from thorns and figs from nettles and she distills good from herbs which in themselves are noisome and evil. Do not fret, therefore, over thorns but get good out of them. Do not begin stinging yourself with nettles—grip them firmly and then use them for your soul’s health. Trials and troubles, worries and turmoil, little frets and little disappointments may all help you, if you will.
Like Solomon, see and consider them well—look upon them and receive instruction. As for us, we will now, first, consider Solomon’s description of a sluggard—he is “a man void of understanding.” Secondly, we shall notice his description of the sluggard’s land—“it was all grown over with thorns and nettles had covered the face thereof.” When we have attended to these two matters we will close by endeavoring to gather the instruction which this piece of waste ground may yield us.
First think of SOLOMON’S DESCRIPTION OF A SLOTHFUL MAN. Solomon was a man whom none of us would contradict for he knew as much as all of us put together. And besides that, he was under Divine inspiration when he wrote this Book of Proverbs. Solomon says a sluggard is “a man void of understanding.” The slothful does not think so. He puts his hands in his pockets and you would think from his important air that he had all the Bank of England at his disposal. You can
see that he is a very wise man in his own esteem for he gives himself airs which are meant to impress you with a sense of his superior abilities.
How he has come by his wisdom it would be hard to say. He has never taken the trouble to think, and yet I dare not say that he jumps to his conclusions because he never does such a thing as jump—he lies down and rolls into a conclusion. Yet he knows everything and has settled all points—meditation is too hard work for him and learning he never could endure. But to be clever by nature is his delight. He does not want to know more than he knows, for he knows enough already and yet he knows nothing. The Proverb is not complimentary to him and I am certain that Solomon was right when he called him, “a man void of understanding.”